And laughter along the way...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one says it all.  It is a lifetime of memories shown in one photograph. 

photo from Papyrus cards

Linda and I were part of a whirlwind courtship, tossed together as toddlers when my big brother married her big sister. From that day on, no two friends could ever have been closer than Linda and me. My earliest memory of time spent with Linda (other than the wedding, and that mostly through pictures) was when we were just out of diapers and sleeping in a big girl bed.  Not sleeping, but coloring.  We had a debate about the word "keller", as Linda pronounced it.  Me, the voice of authority said no, it's "color".  
That, I believe, was the only time we did not agree. 

We grew up sharing nieces and nephews, bike rides, and hikes, summers on the Jersey Shore or California, and family vacations in Florida, with schemes and adventures at every turn.  We were inseparable, even going to the same high school.

But there was one thing we could never share, and that was clothing.  I grew early and was the taller of the two.  

Then, something happened, I stopped growing and Linda continued. She blossomed into the tall, regal person she is today.   

But still, we share nieces and nephews, bike rides and hikes, summers on the shore, and vacations in Florida with schemes and adventures and lots of laughter along the way.

                         Happy Birthday, Princess Linda!